170 ODYSSEY • BOOK X [540-

distances to be covered, and direct you home across the fish-
delighting seas."

' Circe finished, and soon after the Dawn enthroned herselfin
gold. The Nymph clothed me in my tunic and cloak and dressed
herselfin a long robe of silvery sheen, light in fabric and charm-
ing to the eye. She put a veil on her head, and round her waist
she fastened a splendid golden belt. Then I walked through the
palace and made the round of my men, rousing them each with
a cheerful word.

( "Wake up," I said, ^and bid your pleasant dreams farewell.
We must be off. My lady Circe has given me our sailing orders."

(My gallant band made no demur. But not even now did I get
them all off without a casualty. There was one called Elpenor,
the youngest of the party, not much of a fighting man nor very
strong in the head. This young fellow of mine had got drunk,
and longing for fresh air had left his friends in the enchanted
palace and gone to sleep by himself. Roused in the morning by
the bustle and din of the departure, he leapt up suddenly, and
forgetting to go to the long ladder and take the right way down,
he toppled headlong from the roof. He broke his neck and his
soul went down to Hades.

'When the rest of the party joined me I took them into my
confidence. ^You no doubt imagine," I said, "that you are
bound for home and our beloved Ithaca. But Circe has marked
out for us a very different route, to the Halls of Hades and
Persephone the Dread, where we must seek advice of the soul
ofTheban Teiresias."

'When I told them this they were heart-broken. They sat
down where they were and wept and tore their hair. But they
might have spared themselves their lamentations for all the
good they did.

* We made our way to our ship and the beach in a sorry mood
and with many tears. Meanwhile Circe, after taking leave of us,
had tethered a young ram and a black ewe by the ship. She had
slipped past us with ease; and when a god wishes to remain un-
seen, what eye can observe his coming or his going?